€100m to pour into ntl's Ireland network

ntl has announced that it will make a €100m investment in its Irish network to extend the availability of broadband services.

At the same time, the company is introducing a new pricing structure for its broadband services in Ireland. From August, three tiers will be offered at the following price points: 300kbps for €25/mo, 750kbps for €35, and 1.5Mbps for €50.

"This is a very significant day for ntl, its customers, associates and shareholders," said ntl Ireland's Managing Director, Graham Sutherland. "Today marks a major drive to deliver widespread availability of broadband to homes within our network reach and will provide real platform competition within these areas."

ntl plans to make sufficient upgrades to its network by the end of 2004 to cover 100,000 households, with the rest of the network being upgraded to broadband-capable by the end of 2006.

"This move reaffirms ntl Ireland’s commitment to the Irish marketplace and to the broadband market in particular," continued Sutherland. "We share the Government’s vision of making broadband services more widely available at competitive prices in order to place Ireland in the top tier of OECD countries for broadband access. We intend to do this by providing more choice and greater value to customers."